The Stages of Moving House: A To-Do List

From the moment you put your house up for sale, or plans are set in motion to move house, there are a number of stages you’ll experience right up until you empty the final box in your new home. It’s important to have a clearly set out plan once the decision to move has been made, as otherwise, with the hustle, bustle and stress of the whole process, there could be some things that you might forget about.

By setting yourself a schedule you can make the whole event quick and painless by completing the tasks on your to-do list one by one, all in good time for when the moving van pulls up outside your boxed up house.

Make Your Own List

Before you do anything else, you actually need to make your own to-do list before any stress descends and you can’t organise your thoughts properly. It’s best to make your list with a clear head so you can get an idea of what you need to do and when. List your tasks in order of urgency so that you’re fully prepared for the months to follow.

Book a Removal Service

This is good idea to sort early on, as it will give you peace of mind whilst you undertake the rest of your responsibilities. Booking early on will also ensure that you definitely have a date and time scheduled which you can follow up on nearer the time – if you book too late, your preferred removals service may not be available. This could result in you having to pay more for a service that you’re not 100% happy with.

Start sorting

Packing up your belongings takes time, and we’re all guilty of underestimating how much stuff we actually have. It’s best to tackle one room at a time so you don’t get things muddled up, and so you can pretty much transfer your room from one house to another without mixing items that are meant for different rooms.

At this stage you might want to take this opportunity to throw out any unwanted items. Moving house is the perfect time to de-clutter, so have bin-bags at the ready to send to charity shops or the tip, so you can start fresh in your new home!

Admin

Sorting out your life administration is one of the most important things to consider, because it’s something you can easily forget about when there are so many practical things to take care of. Change of address is at the top of your priorities, so you’ll need to contact the necessary people to let them know of your move; banks, council tax, doctors, dentists, insurance companies, and anything else that could be affected with a new address.

If you’ve got a fair few months to go, however, you don’t want to notify these places too early just in case of unexpected circumstances. A lot can happen in a few months, such as the contract falling through, which is why it’s wise to leave it until a few weeks before your moving date to implement these changes.

Accounts

These technically should come under the admin category, but there are a few things that can’t be changed until about a week before. This could include notifying utility companies, as you won’t be using water or electricity on the premises any longer – this usually requires a minimum of 48 hours notice.

Other things may include cancelling milk and newspaper deliveries, and undertaking a new TV license at your new house.

Children and Pets

It can be difficult to keep going back and forth between houses with young children and family pets to take care of. The best course of action would be to get a member of your family or a friend to mind the children whilst you get the busiest part of the day out the way. The same goes for your pets; so they’re kept safe and secure during the back and forth, ask a friend to look after them for the day so they’re one less thing to think about.

There are multiple things to think about during the moving process, but with proper preparation in your favour, it should go pretty smoothly! For more information on our services at Golds Removals, feel free to get in touch via our contact page, otherwise you can also find us on our Facebook page.